Just like day one, day two of the NFL draft was absolutely electric. We started off the day continuing with the fan festivities. The throwing and kicking contests were all the craze. I was able to talk with fans as they recap their team’s draft picks from round one. There were mixed feelings from all different fanbases, but the one that stood out to me was the Cincinnati Bengals. All of their fans were so optimistic even if they didn’t agree with the pick at the moment. They trust their team and they trust their front office to make the right decisions which I didn’t see from many other fan bases.
The draft itself kicked off with Joey Porter Jr. and Will Levis being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans respectively. These were two guys that were invited to Kansas City for the first round and were projected to go in the first round, but they fell to the top of day two. The surprising part was that both of them left Kansas City on Friday before being picked. The only player that was invited that stayed for the second round is Brian Branch. This is all a testament of the character these players have. If you have the high expectation of being drafted early and you fall below those expectations, don’t just give up and leave. If you were humble as Branch was and saw God’s plan all the way through, you’d end up being rewarded with a fruitful career. Arrogance will not get you anywhere and based on their actions post round one, Levis and Porter lack a solid character.
The rest of the draft had some very interesting moments. We saw the Packers load up on offense to build around Jordan Love and maybe in spite of Aaron Rodgers leaving the organization. However, they did double dip in the tight end category so I’m not sure how that is going to play out.
Another surprising moment was the Seattle Seahawks taking Zach Charbonnet, the running back out of UCLA. They continued to pound out the offense after drafting Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round. Like the Packers situation, I’m not sure what this will mean for Kenneth Walker and Seattle’s run game. I love that they’re showing their faith in Geno Smith and building their offense to be even better than it already was. However, Charbonnet and Walker are pretty similar in that they are solid three down backs that can pretty much be productive anywhere in the backfield. I just don’t agree with the move, especially for a team that struggled on defense so much last season. Adding Devon Witherspoon and Derick Hall were truly fantastic moves; however, I just wish the commitment was more on the defensive end. The good thing is that there are still a few rounds to go. Even though I may not agree with the moves made on offense, mostly with the Charbonnet pick, I still think that the moves they made were fantastic and they truly got the best player available at every pick.
The winner when you combine day one with day two is a fairly easy pick. The super bowl runner up, the Philadelphia Eagles have absolutely killed the draft so far. In round one they were able to land two Georgia Bulldogs in Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith. With no picks in round two, they were still able to take advantage of value in the top of the 3rd adding on Tyler Steen, tackle out of Alabama and Sydney Brown, safety out of Illinois. I got to watch a lot of Sydney Brown specifically this year, and I can attest that Philadelphia’s got a real good one at the safety position.
The draft finished off with a Motley Crue concert. I got to catch a little of the beginning of it, but the fans were absolutely loving it. People of all ages came together to give one last sendoff to the early rounds and it was truly an astounding finish to day two of the NFL draft.
